Review : Staying alive

Now is the time of year when gourmets head for the countryside to look for
edible fungi. Those with any sense take a pictorial guide. But they soon learn
that some deadly poisonous varieties look uncomfortably similar to the
delectables. Patrick Harding teaches fungi hunters how to stay alive. Now he has
written a book, How to Identify Edible Mushrooms (Collins, £9.99, ISBN 0
00 219984), which uses comparative pictures to warn of lookalikes. Sensibly, it
is pocket-sized and plastic-coated.